On 2/16/10, according to a DOJ Tax announcement here, one Dr. Andrew Silva pled to a Klein / defraud conspiracy and to making a false statement (presumably 18 U.S.C. § 1001). On its face it would appear that DOJ Tax is upping the ante. (See also Main Justice discussion here.) Previously all that was required was a single plea – the defendant could take his pick between a tax perjury count and an FBAR failure to file count. The maximum sentence for Dr. Silva's plea counts of conviction is 10 years in the aggregate (5 years each count). One might infer that DOJ Tax is ratcheting up as one way of telling the target community that it will get steadily worse as an inducement to come to the table sooner rather than later.
But this case has some wrinkles that may have made it more egregious. The first tip off is that the DOJ Tax announcement here states that the announcement is made by DOJ Tax, ICE, the U.S. Postal Service and the IRS. This was a significant coordinated effort that seems disproportionate for ordinary offshore tax cheating. And, the disproportion is a result of the wrinkles. (See also the Main Justice rehash of the announcement here.)
Key Points that I think are worthy of note are:
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